


Close-to-home Celebrity(ies)

by eticatka



Series: Striketober 2020 [10]
Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Interviews, Some Fluff, Strike doesn't swear, Striketober | Cormoran Strike Fictober 2020, it could be a disaster but it isn't
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27078706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eticatka/pseuds/eticatka
Summary: A follow-up to "Ask a Role Model". Strike takes part in the interview Jack organised at his school, but he couldn't manage it alone.
Relationships: Robin Ellacott/Cormoran Strike
Series: Striketober 2020 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956391
Comments: 14
Kudos: 31
Collections: Striketober | Cormoran Strike Fictober 2020





	Close-to-home Celebrity(ies)

**Author's Note:**

> This ended up being so long, but I had just too many ideas (thanks to @RobinVenetiaa for some of them)! :D I also used three prompts in this fic, because I need to catch up with the challenge. Hope it doesn't look too forced!

“And then he said they’re inviting me for an interview!”

Robin tried not to laugh, imagining her partner in a posh TV studio with some 12-year-old in lieu of Graham Norton.

“Robin, I’m scared.”

“Come on, the kids won’t hold you on a gunpoint or try to poison your drink.”

“What if I swear accidentally? What if they ask me something about our work which couldn’t be answered without mentioning sex, cheating and perverts? I’m terrible with kids.”

“You’re wonderful with Jack.” She took his hand and brought it to her cheek. “Do you want me to go with you?”

“What?”

“I’ll drive you there, and we’ll get you prepared on the way. I can sit somewhere in the back and give you meaningful looks during the interview.”

“I think I have a better idea.”

*

“Hey, Jack. Can I take Robin with me? See, I wouldn’t be much of a celebrity without her. It would be only fair if we were there together.”

“Does she want to come?” Jack was surprised. In fact, he did think of inviting Robin, but was too shy to do it himself.

“Yeah, she’d love to.”

“Terrific!”

*

“So this is our studio,” declared Jack, leading Strike and Robin into a room which definitely looked quite professional for a school TV studio. It was probably a former classroom, but now it had a large green screen, two cameras and a sophisticated light fixture. A girl of about thirteen was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room; two other chairs were vacant.

“Hi, I’m Lou,” the girl said. Strike and Robin shook her hand in turn. “I’m so excited!”

“So are we,” Robin reassured her.

“Jack is going to fix your mics, and then we’ll talk for about half an hour. We collected questions from all over the school – how much do we have, Jack?”

“Fifteen on our short list. Don’t worry, Veronica will edit the recording if it’s too long.”

Veronica, who was standing behind one of the cameras, waved her hand.

“It’s just three of us here,” explained Jack, adjusting the small microphone to the lapel of Strike’s jacket. “There’s also Mr Jacobs, our arts teacher, he’s our supervisor. But technically we do everything ourselves. Say something, I need to check the sound.”

“It’s f… fantastic!” Strike replied, and Jack nodded, listening to the sound in his headphones.

“Terrific, let’s get started.”

“Don’t move!” called Lou, taking her phone out. “I wanna take a picture of you just like that!”

*

“Okay, so the next question is from Alex J., 15 years old.” Lou read from the tablet she was holding on her lap. “‘How do you manage to keep the balance between your professional and private lives?’”

 _“We don’t” is not a good answer,_ thought Robin.

 _“No sex in the office” is not a good answer,_ thought Strike. _And not too honest._

“It’s tricky,” he said. “We plan our schedules weeks ahead. And we never discuss work… at home.” He was going to say “in bed”.

“We do, occasionally,” added Robin. “It’s not a 9-to-5 job, sometimes you can’t get a case out of your head, you have to talk about it. And there are night surveillances, and irregular hours–”

“Aren’t you ever bored on a surveillance?” Lou inquired. “I guess it’s like hours and hours with nothing happening until you see something extraordinary?”

“Usually it’s hours and hours with nothing happening. Period. What?” Strike turned to Robin, who looked at him sarcastically.

“You’ve just disappointed all those kids who are dreaming of becoming detectives!”

“Sh… shame. Well, sometimes there are amazing discoveries. And that’s worth all the boring waiting in the car!”

_Especially if the waiting’s with Robin._

*

“‘Do you still trust people, seeing so much fraud and cheating?’, asks our history teacher, Mr. Pollack.”

“I never trust people by default, but I’m trying my best to be objective. I’m learning through mistakes, of course. Sometimes the appearance is too deceiving.”

“I think Mr. Pollack’s question is more general,” said Robin. “Do you have trust in the humankind?”

“No. Only in some particular humans.”

_And one of them is sitting next to me._

*

“And the last question is from Sophie L., who’s just eight years old, but she’s already a fan. She asks, what’s your favourite snack?”

Robin and Strike looked at each other and said simultaneously, “Biscuits.” Everybody laughed.

“Why biscuits?”

“You can have them on your way, when you need to quickly renew your energy. And they’re sweet. Listen, kids, eating so much biscuits isn’t good for your health! Look at me!” Strike patted his belly.

*

“And that’s it! Thank you so much for coming, Cormoran and Robin! This was “Close-to-home Celebrity”, my name is Lou, and if you don’t wanna miss the next amazing guest, hit the ‘subscribe’ button below this video!”

Strike closed the laptop and leaned back. Jack had been texting him all day, updating him on the growing number of views and likes, so he had no choice but to watch the video in the evening. It wasn’t that bad, he had to admit. Actually, it was incredible.

“I like it,” Robin put her head on his shoulder and yawned. “You managed half an hour without swearing!”

“All because of you, love. And, in general, it’s all because of you.”


End file.
